• From the southern part of Sweden we introduce Anna Jadeus & the Miracle Orchestra and their brand new song Army Révolutionnaire. A hooky folky vibe we double dare you to resist, a feet stomping zealous ride.

It’s unsigned, homemade and a fresh breath of mountain air. It’s Regina Spektor drinking Scotch on the rocks with The Head And The Heart on the banks of Öresund. Give it a swing!

1. The Head & The Heart – The Head & The Heart
This band did it for us this year, first an amazing live performance and then the album. Mr Jon Russel and the other geniuses play good old Folk/Americana/Roots you name it, but with a smell of greatness that excelled throughout the year. This is the album of the year.

2. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
Imagine an orchard. The sun setting. You are among friends and lovers. You take a glass of the local wine and you think about the trees, the harvest and the moon. It´s all here. Fleet Foxes made a true masterpiece that will stand the test of time.

3. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
Mr Vile, took some time to get to know. But with this massive ring of smoke he got the full attention. Some Dylan some BRMC and a lot of clean guitars to go with it. Damn this man is something else.

4. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Having released pure gold for the last couple of years since the debut, it came as no surprise that Justin Vernon had another batch of magic to send out to his flock of followers. File this under “Golden”.

5. Maxim Ludwig & The Santa Fe seven – This round is on Me EP
As the title of the record implies – Maxim Ludwig and his band equals buddies you´d love to hang out with. The music is brilliant and very American, Springsteenish and Pettyish. Very, very, very dear to us.

6. City and Colour – Little Hell
With no fear, in a darkened place, this album lits up wherever you will go. It spills of melodies that lingers and creates the genuine sound of that music that can inspire and still keep you wanting more.

7. The Far West – The Far West
The Far West got under our skin. It´s country as it´s supposed to be, old-time yet interesting. Heartland stuff. Song titles as “Bound to Loose” and “Bitter Drunk & Cold” tells a story – crank up the volume and hear about it.

8. My morning Jacket – Circuital
Sometimes, not very often, an album comes along that is bigger, better and more brutal then other things in life. MMJ made that record. This one is thoroughly made, 100 % full proof. It´s a rock n roll album and we´re just glad to smell the napalm.

9. The Black Keys – El Camino
To follow up a massive success like Brothers (2010) is hard. But these fellas are the ones to pull it off. Even if it doesn’t really fill up the void that has been since the last album, this is real. This is what rock is supposed to be. Still with that garage rock feeling to it. The Keys will rule the genre for a long long time.

10. John Hiatt – Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns
Where to begin? John Hiatt made one of the absolutely best songs of the year in the opener “Damn This Town”. Fateful down to the core. The album is a tour de force, old school and beautiful, a true companion. A keeper.

12. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials
Waiting for this album has been painful. Lungs from 2009 was one of the best albums of that year, and when Ceremonials finally was released, it was like love began all over again. The dog days are over. Florence is back.

13. Joe Fletcher & The wrong reasons – White Lighter
Joe Fletcher is probably the coolest cat around. Together with his reasons they got a sound that many great bands would sell their souls for. I write this with my foot stomping the floor. Heavy Country!

14. Yuck – Yuck
You can hear Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, Pavement and other great influences while examining the DNA of Yuck. What a debut from this UK-band who swings at the USA-90´s – hitting it out of the stadium.

15. William Elliott Whitmore – Field Songs
WEW always got a place in our Kentuckysevenheart. We believe every word he sings. The banjo, the voice, the earth. The honesty, the tales, the late-night-comfort. Listening to Field Songs pretty much sums it up.

16. Dolorean – The Unfazed
Al James of Dolorean is one the most talented storytellers we’ve ever stumbled upon. This album is no exception. Makes you wishing you could just move to Portland, sit on a porch, and just listen to that real country guitars and piano all day. Masterpiece.

17. The Apache Relay – American Nomad
Feetstomping feel and severely addictive album, from the bearded and supertalented indie root musicians who are the Apache Relay. You can’t help yourself, you just listen and get sucked in.

18. Jeff the Brotherhood – We are the championsTrue, raw and that kind of sound that you wish you could have created yourself. These guys have a way of creating music that few could upbring. It’s simple, yet right on the money. The Buzz is still building up. Stay Up Late, and listen.

19. Times New Viking – Dancer Equired
This one itches, hits you hard in the belly and will not go away. An awesome band from Columbus, Ohio who makes their lo-fi-punk-songs in their own special way. Extremely cool. TNW is talent with a stiff upper lip.

20. Explosions in the sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Seeing the band at Way Out West this year just proved once again why this band is so great. With just tunes, the music tells stories that you would never have read anywhere else. It’s all over the chart. It’s just that great.

One of the best albums of 2011 is My Morning Jackets ‘Circuital’. This darling rockband is touring the shit out of it as we speak. Sat 16 th July they gig Latitude Festival and Sun 17 July the gig Somerset House w awesome support of The Head And The Heart.

Kentuckyseven got a minute with mighty drummer Patrick Hallahan, do check it out.

¤ Circuital was recorded in Kentucky, your home-state. Was that special to you?

”Recording an album is always a special time for us, but recording at home took it to another level. There’s just a certain comfort when at home…a centering element. And because of this, we didn’t have to focus on our surrounds, just the music.”

¤ How is the music-scene in Kentucky today?

”The music scene in Kentucky is complicated. On one hand, you have the mindset that musicians should maintain the traditional bluegrass roots. On the other hand, you have people wanting to invent. We like to invent…”

¤ We´d love to go to Kentucky and listen to live music. Where to go?

”Renfro Valley.”

¤ Your hopes for 2011?

”Have a healthy baby. Play as many shows with my friends as possible. Make more time for my family. Give back to the universe for all of this positive energy.”

¤ Kentuckyseven loves the new album, how do you guys rate it?

”Too close to the fire…I’ll leave the rating to you. Rest assured, we’re really happy with how things turned out.”

¤ What books or records did inspire you in the making of Circuital?

”Circuital was inspired by life lessons, personal growth, and realization. There are no direct connections to books or records…they are two of many things that shaped our minds leading up to this point.”

Sometimes when you see or hear a band for the first time, you just know.

At the extraordinary mini-folk-festival put together by Woody West, I met The Head and The Heart for the first time. And I was floored. The sound, the harmonies and the people on stage, just had me at he…

They were praised at SXSW and no wonder, their music is something else. The American roots are built in, to the very last particle of the sound. The vocals and of Jon, Charity and Josiah together with the rest of the band just exploding off stage, in that powerful feeling of love for what they do. It is breathtaking. In any way possible. It is ”up above” in a way not even the songs can explain.

I know, it sounds like some being in love for the first time, but I am in love. This is something special. Something very rare. I had the pleasure of talking to both Jon and Charity that night, and the feeling just kept going. These are persons that just make great stuff, for the love of it.

The Head and The Heart will release their debut album on Heavenly Records in Europe (Subpop US) and for those of you who haven’t met them yet, I suggest you pick that album up. On April 18. Currently touring with The Low Anthem, if they are heading your way, make sure to hold a ticket.

If you wanna fall head over heels, just like I did, just get on that first date, by listening to the song below. And hopefully, you will hit it off.

¤ This night was something else. Woody West gathered three bands, all in that crowded, rowdy place called Pusterviksbaren, a small yet beautiful Thursdayfestival. The Head And The Heart started out, and man – you can tell why they were the talk of the town in Austin (SXSW). A band that just made new friends, Kentuckyseven will follow their great path. Then Woods did their folk-psych-thing and killed it. Jeremy Earls voice is from space, intense stuff. And then they entered stage, The Low Anthem.

These Rhode Island-fellas brought everything with them on stage, 14 instruments to choose from. Singer Ben Knox Miller started out with Ticket Taker from their 2009-album Oh My God Charlie Darwin and just rolled with it. We heard Hey All Your Hippies, Boeing 737, Apothecary Love and their most swedish song ever I´ll take out your ashes. The band mixed their folky roots with some aggressive rocktunes and let it all out. The place was packed, I had to lean over on the harmonium just to write these lines.

The Low Anthem is a great liveband. This Bella Union-quartet tours all the way to November and I would enjoy every gig. They lay their hearts out on stage and don´t think twice about it. It´s what they do. Jeff Prystowsky hitting the drums, Jocie Adams with that trumpet, it all makes sense, live music at its core. Before the lights went off they did a couple of a cappella´s and you got that religious, goosebumpy, powerful feeling. You know, just glad to be around when it happened.